March 22nd was, of course, the most important day of the year: Debbie’s Birthday! Coincidentally, on of Debbie’s friends, Melinda, was in town on a business trip. So we decided to combine the two events. Debbie and Melinda know each other from back when she lived in New Jersey.

We decided that the first thing we had to do was hit the beach. It was a little too cold and windy for sunbathing, so we decided to just walk along the beach at Torrey Pines.

After our walk on the beach, we headed over to Karl Strauss in La Jolla for lunch. Debbie and Melinda had a great time getting caught up, and it was fun for me too since I like to sit around and reminisce with people I don’t know. Sophie just enjoyed having a seat near the window where she could wave at all the people walking by outside.

OK, they only returned for a week, but it was still great to see them. For those of you who don’t know them, Dale and Jess moved to San Diego in 2001 from Minnesota. Dale started working at HSBC with me, and, after a few fishing trips, deep-fried turkeys and bachelor parties in Las Vegas, became friends.

An early (2002) photo of Dale and Jess:

A younger, less follically impared Dale:

Alas, these two were much too Minnesotan at heart to remain in Southern California for too long, and in 2005 they packed up and moved back to Minneapolis.

Fast forward to March 21st of this year. Dale and Jess decided to take a cruise to Mexico, and since the ship was leaving out of San Diego, they came a little early to hang out with some of their old friends in San Diego. And Dale also had a little surprise planned for Jess.

So, Dale had me gather up a group of friends for dinner down at the Dakota Grill in downtown San Diego, where Dale proceeded to propose to Jess. Yes, folks, it’s true. The couple who claimed for years they were never getting married are engaged! (He got down on one knee and everything.)

It was quite an evening, and I’m glad that we were able to be part of this historic event!

The happy couple left the next morning for their cruise to Mexico, but on the back end of their trip they had a couple of more days in San Diego to hang out with us.

We headed over to their hotel in La Jolla with Sophie to enjoy some time relaxing by the pool.

Finally, we headed up to the Stone Brewery for a farewell dinner. If you live in San Diego and haven’t been to Stone yet, I highly recommend it. Great food, great beer and a fantastic outdoor beer garden to relax in.

Due to the delay between when events actually occur and when I get around to posting my distorted perspective of them on this blog, I sometimes run into some Lost-esque distortions in the blog time line.

Back on St. Patrick’s Day I posted this picture of Sophie, wearing her new St. Patrick’s Day shirt that Nana sent her. Since I managed to get the shirt on her, take the picture and get it out of the camera and on to the computer, I decided to post it out of the usual chronological order.

Now that blog time has finally reached March 17th, I’m going to revisit the scene of the crime. Since the 17th was a Tuesday, we started the day with swim class, and then headed over to the mall for lunch. They had some nice flowers planted in the middle of the mall, so I decided to take advantage and plopped Sophie down for an impromptu photo session.

Our friends Joan-Marie and Matthew were there as well, looking quite photogenic.

Finally, here’s Sophie back home, going for a walk around the loop with her car/walker thing.

Hopefully this post will return the time line to normal and we can all get back to our normal lives.

Sophie’s first week as a one-year old was action packed, as usual. We started the week off bright and early on Monday morning with a visit to the doctor for her one year checkup.

Everything checked out perfect. She’s growing according to schedule and even took her shots with barely a cry.

After the doctor we met up with Shay and Eric and family for breakfast before they headed back up north. Brynn took the opportunity to teach Sophie how to read.

On Monday night we headed off to Del Mar to go to the circus. Our friends Kelly and Carl and their daughter Addison gave us the tickets for Sophie’s birthday.

I was a bit concerned about how Sophie would react. I figured either she would get bored after 5 minutes or would be terrified from the noise and lights. But she actually did great and sat quietly for the whole thing. (Ok, almost the whole thing. She got a bit squirmy the last 10 minutes.)

On Tuesday, Sophie and I went to swim class as usual, then over to Fuddruckers for lunch afterwards. We generally let the kids run around a bit after we finish eating, and it is always fun to watch them bounce off the walls and each other.

Uncle Brian and Aunt Karen sent Sophie this cool pink car for her birthday. She hasn’t quite figured out how to make it move yet, but she likes to sit on it and beep the horn (over and over and over . . . )

On Wednesday, Sophie and I went hiking down in Penasquitos canyon, which is just north of where we live.

We took our hike during what would normally be Sophie’s morning nap, but fortunately the rocking motion of the hiking puts her right to sleep. (Unfortunately, that meant I had to keep hiking until she woke up. Sort of a mandatory fitness program.)

On Friday, Kandice and Mike dropped off their dogs Cheryl and Harmony for us to dogsit, and we went for a walk down to the park to get some excercise. As always, Sophie loved having the dogs around, and she loves it even more now that she can walk and chase them around the house.

Finally, we switched Sophie over to real milk from formula this week. As you can see, I think she’s enjoying it.

On March 8th our sweet little peanut turned one year old. It’s hard to believe how fast the time has gone by and what an amazing experience it has been.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we threw a little party at the park down the street from our house. (Somehow our invitation list grew almost to the size of our wedding – and it didn’t even include people from out of town!) Going to the park gave us plenty of room to spread out, and the kids could run around and play on the swings and play structures. Thankfully, the weather co-operated and we had a beautiful sunny day.

Debbie decided to make Sophie’s cake herself, so she baked and decorated a giant cupcake as well as a bunch of little ones.

We also got Sophie a ladybug cupcake-cake. (have you figured out what the theme is yet?)

Here’s the birthday girl herself in her ladybug dress.

There was plenty of food and drink for those not busy climbing on the playground equipment.

I wish I could say I arranged for these people to come by with their birds to entertain our guests, but apparently they were just taking them for a walk in the park.

Finally it was time for birthday cake!

Sophie did manage to make good dent in her cake (mostly frosting I think) and went into a bit of a sugar daze for a little while.

After a quick costume change, Sophie was ready to mingle with her guests again.

Here are a few other shots from the party.

Finally we headed back home. Our friends Shay and Eric had come down from Simi Valley for the party, and they stopped by the house for a little while to hang out and watch Sophie open some of her presents.

Finally, after such a busy day, it was time for a bath and then off to bed. (and of course you have to brush your teeth after all that cake!)

Thanks to everyone who came to the party or sent cards/presents, and special thanks to everyone who helped us set up for the party.

There are many more pictures in the album, so be sure to check them out.